"It turns out that such bubbles could even form right now. An entirely separate space-time could pop into existence in your living room, say. It would start unimaginably small, then balloon to the size of a cantaloupe -- but not before your very eyes, because, for quite fundamental reasons, you couldn’t see it.

"They don’t form in space, of course," Stephen said. "It doesn’t mean anything to ask where in space these things occur." They don’t take up room in our universe but rather are their own universes, expanding into spaces that did not exist before."

Of course, it couldn't form in the room or any any time.

Hawkings talks of Imaginary time, it's seems to be a device to somehow avoid some mathmatical problems with dealing with infinite. I think instead he should call it infinite time [screw the Math:).

"They’re cut off from us after we make them," I said. "No relics, no fossil?"

"I do not think there could be."

Now if you see that we are "in" an infinite time- a finite universe born in a infinite time (infinite everything). Then there would be "relics"- the infinity "found" in this universe. This btw, makes me think that despite the common notion of gravity having an infinite reach, I think it's actually is finite. Gravity is spherical in nature and I think spheres are finite characteristic of this universe [clueless why people associate circles with infinite]. So what is infinite is this universe? Big, small, ideas, possiablities, singlarities, and/or light?. What is finite? lots of things: good, evil,... This quickly gets into a sematics problem, language limits "things". You can say that 4 seconds is finite, but then turn around and divide that 4 seconds of time into "infinite" segments.
Anyways, it seems that this universe is finite is some ways- it starts, it ends, time goes one way, only so much mass can be put in one spot- before you break space/time, ect.

I asked, "No meaning, then, to the pursuit of meaning?"

"To do that would require one to stand outside the universe, which is not possible."

Physically stand certainly, but mentally you can "imagine" you are standing beyond- Hawkings seems to do this all the time:)
I think pursuit of meaning is the meaning. Meaning is of the infinite, we are "in the finite" seeking the infinite. In the finite, but of the infinite.

Of course, I'm speaking gibberish, right?
:)